Soft Knuckles
by 0Zerotolerence
Summary: Jasper loves boxing. She loves how she's able to beat down anyone who dares fight her and not have any legal problems from it. She loves the fact that she's the best in her small town, practically standing on a pedestal. But one thing she hates is when someone new comes along to show her up.
1. A Challenger Approaches!

Soft Knuckles

* * *

The strange thing about the five senses is that there is always that one thing that's angelic to certain people. One might love the sight of their presents on Christmas morning, or just enjoy the beautiful orange sunset falling over the horizon. Some may enjoy the smell of breakfast in the morning, or simply enjoy the scent of a lit stick of incense. Others might love the feeling of freshly washed blankets after having been dried so that they may have a good night's rest. And of course there's the taste of one's favorite meal, prepared for a special occasion. Combined, these senses create our being, our entire existence. For one woman, however, sound was the most pleasurable thing.

Leather mitts smacked against a similar material bag, in a rhythm that could be considered poetic. A woman named Jasper danced around the bag hanging from the ceiling of the gym she attended, striking in different areas. Sweat coated her tanned body as she hit the bag with quick jabs, powerful hooks, and sweeping uppercuts. Basically anything she could think of that would harm her imaginary opponent, she did, including wrapping her arms around the bag and jamming her knee repeatedly into it, a dull thud ringing throughout the gym.

Her clothing left nothing to the imagination. Of course she wore dark clothing so that her skin wouldn't be seen passed her sweaty clothes, but she absolutely refused to wear an uncomfortable bra while she worked out. Jasper had to wear a crop top under her tank top so as to stay decent during her exercising. Her shorts were of a decent length, but they were definitely tight against her lower thighs, but that's how she liked it. They allowed for easy movement. Her dirty blonde, butt length hair was tied back into a bun and ponytail combination. Because of the sheer thickness of her hair, it was difficult to contain such length, but she also refused to cut it.

Despite being a woman, Jasper had a rather large build. Even some of the men who frequented the gym were of a smaller stature. And even the occasional buff that would walk through the door didn't dare to spar with Jasper when she requested it. It wasn't because they wanted to be gentlemanly, or because they simply thought hitting a woman was wrong. No, they didn't want to fight Jasper because they genuinely feared for their lives. She had quite the local reputation.

"Yo Jasper!"

Jasper stopped thrusting her knee up into the bag to look at her second, someone who stays at the corner of a boxing ring to help the boxer during the one minute intervals. This woman was quite a bit shorter than Jasper was. Honestly, just two feet shorter and Amethyst could be considered a dwarf. Her brunette hair was just as long as Jasper's, but she kept it loose until she needed to train someone herself, then she tied it into a ponytail made from itself. She wore a dark gray hoodie and jeans, completely casual in this room of sweaty men and women who are trying to better themselves. Jasper smirked and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "What's up, sis?" Oh, Jasper and Amethyst are sisters.

Amethyst stood beside Jasper's punching bag and inspected the indents the taller woman's knee left in the leather. "You're a boxer, is what's up. No legs, remember?"

"I know." Jasper admitted, claiming her guilt with a raised hand as she leaned on the bag. "I got a little carried away. You know I don't break those rules in the ring, right?"

"Hey, I don't care what you do in here, but if Smiley sees you pull this crap, it'll be my ass. Grab me a pair of gloves, would you?"

"Oh, getting a little antsy?" Jasper asked, and Amethyst nodded. Even if Amethyst wasn't a professional, she still enjoyed hitting the bag and doing the general exercises. Jasper grabbed a pair of gloves hanging from the rack that Amethyst hilariously couldn't reach and tossed them to her. As her sister slipped on the gloves, Jasper took a look around the gym.

The place wasn't big, by any means. What was mentioned before about there being the occasional visitor should be taken quite literally. Really, the only regulars were Jasper, Amethyst, the coach Harold Smiley, and a couple of annoyances that refused to leave. An Asian girl with bleached hair named Peridot sat on a bench at one of the gym's walls. She wore a light green tank top, skinny jeans, and sipped from a can of Coke through a straw while she read her book. Why she chose the gym to be her sanctuary, Jasper would never know.

Beside Peridot was a black haired girl named Lapis. She wore a blue long sleeve shirt and jeans to match Peridot's. She had earbuds in her ears, playing with something on her phone, maybe listening to music. It was hard to really tell what race Lapis was. Her skin was dark enough to be considered Hispanic, but it could just as well be a tan. Jasper didn't want to ask. Amethyst and herself had a bit of Hispanic in them as well, but Jasper didn't dare risk sounding the least bit racist.

The rest of the gym was fairly barren aside from the boxing ring in the middle of the floor and the few pieces of equipment. A speed bag here and there, several jump ropes, just two heavy punching bags that Jasper and Amethyst stood beside, and the wall were so faded that the original white color fell into a yellow stain. It was an eyesore, but Jasper didn't care. It felt like home.

"I still can't believe you actually like being here." Jasper commented, turning back to Amethyst. The shorter girl was just finishing with her glove straps and testing their tightness. "You're usually so lazy."

Amethyst smirked, smacking the bag with her left fist. "Hey, being lazy doesn't mean shit if no one's there to complain about me being lazy."

"Dude, that's the ultimate kind of lazy."

"You came out of mom fighting the doctors. I came out ready to suck on her tits for food. You can't fight fate, sis."

"Don't make me imagine mom like that." Jasper pleaded as Amethyst took more hits at the bag. "Especially not since she died."

Amethyst couldn't helped herself. She laughed and leaned against the punching bag, already winded just after half a minute of punching. "Oh god. I'm so sorry, but I just imagined our decayed mom being like "How dare you tell me not to breastfeed my child in public! It's completely natural!" Then one of her tits falls off and- "

"Nope! No, nuh-uh." Jasper loudly interrupted, throwing a wide hooked punch into the bag Amethyst rested against, forcing the smaller woman to fall on her ass. "You are _not_ putting that image in my head!"

"It's already there and you know it!" Amethyst said from the ground as she massaged her elbow, laughing.

Jasper shook her head and began taking off her gloves. "You are so lucky you're my sister."

Amethyst brought herself back to her feet, dusting off imaginary dirt from her pants with her gloved hands. "Not like you have the balls to kick my ass anyway. So you done with the bag for the day?"

"Nah, just gonna do a bit of road work and come back to it." Jasper answered. She left the white wrappings on her hand because she planned to put the gloves back on as soon as she got back to the gym. "If Smiley comes in before I get back, tell him I went running and he can help me work the mitts when I get back."

"You got it, babe." Amethyst nodded, and Jasper was out the door.

Jasper and her sister lived in a rather small town. Really, it could hardly be called a town at all. It was more like a village in terms of size, but at least it was next to a beach. Running in the sand was perfect for working the legs.

Jasper jogged to the beach, passing just a couple of people on her way. A girl Jasper never really spoke to, but knew her name as Jenny, appeared to be on a delivery for her family's pizza business. Jenny had a sister named Kiki, who sometimes accompanied Jasper whenever she was on her run. They conversed about small stuff, usually, like the weather and current events, but nothing really happened in this town. This day, though, Kiki didn't show up.

When Jasper reached the edge of the beach, she stopped to take a look at the scenery and just... breathe. It was still early in the morning. Not so early that the sun was still rising over the horizon, but early enough to just _know_ that it was morning. The pure sand, completely free of pollution complemented the sparkling blue ocean well. If Jasper was to be honest with herself, she would love to take a selfie of her at the beach. She felt the scenery would go perfectly with her amber colored eyes.

Enough staring. Jasper kicked off her shoes, removed her socks, and stretched before making a full on dash down the hill of sand. Up and down the beach she went, pumping her legs, keeping her breath steady with her stride. She only planned to do this for a few minutes, at most. Being a heavyweight, she didn't want to lose to much weight through cardio. Just running enough to keep her weight stable was good enough for her.

Really though, she didn't have to worry about her weight dropping. Her height of six feet and four inches tall and her wide build kept her weight in check. It would take a lot of sweating and heart pumping to lose enough weight to be kicked out of the heavyweight class. That was personally her worst fear. No one in the light heavyweight or middleweight classes could possibly give her a challenge. Though even the heavyweight women she had fought or sparred with were nothing to Jasper. She had requested from Coach Smiley to give her a male fighter, but he refused because it simply "wasn't right."

That ideology just pissed her off. As Jasper slowed to a halt, finally finished with her sprints in the sand, she thought about how if she wanted to fight a man, she should be able to. Of course she had male sparring partners from time to time, but she wanted a fight where there would be no holding back. No headgear, eight ounce gloves, and nothing but fists against skin. Jasper smiled at the thought of not holding back for once. She walked back to the sidewalk that was beside the beach, dusted off her feet, put on her socks and shoes, and made her way back to the gym.

The walk back was just as uneventful as the jog to the beach. Jenny's delivery car was already back at the pizza place. Jasper couldn't have been running for more than ten minutes. That just goes to show one how small this town actually was concerning activity. A single person was on the street. Jasper thought her name was Pearl. They passed each other without a single word, aside from a wink from Jasper. Pearl ignored it, however, turning her nose up and continuing on her way. As Jasper came to the door of the gym, her thought was that Pearl _definitely_ needed to release some tension, whether it be through a massage or some other means.

Of course those thoughts were practically blown away when Jasper heard noise of gloves against mitts as she walked through the doors of the gym.

A quick look around the room told Jasper everything she needed to know about the differences from when she left to when she came back. Amethyst was conversing with Peridot and Lapis, probably flirting. Coach Smiley was back as well, holding boxing mitts for someone as they trained. But the person training was what caught Jasper's interest.

A tall black woman punched the mitts that the equally as dark skinned Smiley held. The woman wore short black sports shorts that hugged her thighs nicely, and a red crop top. Her hair was black and curly, pulled back into a messy ponytail. Jasper assumed that her hair would be a little poofier when freed from the hair tie.

Jasper went to stad beside her sister on the bench, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She watched, a half smirk on her face while she watched this new woman give Coach Smiley a run for his money. He was practically sweating enough to fill buckets, yelling out orders to his partner. Jabs, straights, hooks, uppercuts, etc. The woman's swings were wide, but made up for it with how quick they were. Anyone who saw her punches coming would have only half a second to react. Not to mention the muscles she showed off!

Her back was rippling with strength. Her biceps were just slender enough to be quick but definitely large enough to pack a punch. Her legs were well toned, most likely from hours of running and possible weight training. Jasper found herself licking her lips in excitement.

"Hey." Jasper said, interrupting Amethyst's conversation with Peridot and Lapis with an elbow to the back to the head. "Who's the black chick?"

Amethyst looked at Jasper, rubbing the back of her head. "Racist much?"

"It's a legitimate term!" Jasper argued. "Just tell me who she is."

"No clue." Amethyst shrugged. "She came in, asked who the coach was, and wouldn't say anything else after I told her he wasn't here yet. Smiley walked in, I told her that was him, she thanked me, and that was that. She talked to him and they started doing this. Didn't give a name."

"A little rude, not giving her name, don't you think?" Lapis asked with a deadpanned voice.

"She's the strong, silent type." Peridot rationalized, picking up her book that she had put down to talk to Amethyst. "Small talker, big fighter. Classic cliché."

"Well she's not gonna be stronger than me." Jasper left the bench and walked back to the punching bag she was training on earlier, grabbing her gloves from the rack beside it. She slipped one of them on, tightening the strings while walking toward the ring, the other glove in her mouth. Once she finished with the one glove, she grabbed the top rope of the ring and jumped, pulling herself onto the mat. Her weight shook the ring slightly, causing the new woman to halt her assault on Coach Smiley. They both looked at Jasper, Smiley looking relieved, and the woman looking... well, just looking.

Jasper's first impression of the woman, just based off looks alone, was a good one. She looked absolutely stunning. Her chest rose and fell as she caught the breath she lost, but there was barely any sweat on her. The most notable feature were her eyes, however. Jasper had heard of Heterochromia, but had never witnessed it until now. This woman's right eye was a dark reddish brown, and her left was a clear, sparkling blue. Both, in Jasper's opinion, were absolutely gorgeous.

"Nice eyes." Jasper commented, tightening her second glove on her hand, pulling at the string with her teeth. "Name's Jasper." She said through her teeth. She then held her gloves out to her coach. "Mind tying these up at the end for me?"

"Uhh... Hey Jasper." Coach Smiley greeted nervously, his smile ever wide. He started taking the mitts from his hands. "Sure, but uh, what are you- "

"I wanna test the new girl. Isn't it obvious?"

"Well lemme tell you, she's a hard hitter." It was obvious Smiley didn't really approve of Jasper's actions, but he wasn't about to say no to her either. He held his mitts under his arms while he tied of Jasper's gloves. All the while, Jasper and this other woman had a bit of a stare down.

"What's your name, anyway?" Jasper, asked.

"Garnet."

The woman's, or now Garnet's, voice was amazing. Low, stable, calm, surprisingly British. Jasper wanted to ask when she came to America, but she decided against it. Right now, she just wanted to focus on getting into a fight.

"Cool name." Jasper knocked her gloves together after Smiley had finished tying them. "Care for a little spar?"

Garnet didn't answer at first. She just stared, silent. Jasper felt like she was being sized up. After a few seconds of no reaction, Garnet shrugged. "Sure."

"Need any headgear?" Jasper asked. Garnet shook her head. This was going to be fun.

Smiley looked back and forth between the two women, obviously quite worried for their safety. Of course, he didn't dare say anything aside from the usual. "So, uh... you ladies know the rules. No cheap shots, no elbows, blows to the back of the head, all that stuff. This is just a spar, so there's only gonna one three minute round. The time will start from the first punch thrown and stop when I ring the gong. So I'll, uh, get out of your hair." With those words, Smiley left to stand ringside beside Amethyst, who decided to act as her sister's second. Peridot and Lapis feigned uninterest, but it was clear they wanted to see how the match would turn out. Peridot peeked over the book she was reading and Lapis chewed gum while listening to her music, seemingly staring off into space.

Now it was just Jasper and Garnet in the ring. They didn't have their own corners. They didn't have anyone to throw the towel in for them. As far as Jasper was concerned, this was just an all out brawl. She took her stance, raising her fists to guard her face, left foot in front of her right in the usual orthodox boxing pose. Garnet mirrored Jasper's stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Of course, despite Jasper's excitement, she couldn't help but have low expectations for this woman. Just by sight, Garnet couldn't have been more than a middleweight. That was two weight classes below Jasper. With the advantage in weight, she believed she had a guaranteed victory, not to mention she was faster than she looked. She decided to test the waters first.

Jasper stepped forward with her left foot, throwing out her left fist in a jab. The forward body movement was to give her an extra reach. A simple move would surprise anyone who wasn't trained properly, or just not paying attention. Jasper wasn't surprised when Garnet weaved her head to dodge the blow. What was surprising, however, was when Garnet went on the offensive.

Jasper barely had enough time to pull her fist back to guard herself from the left-right combination Garnet attacked with. She stared at Garnet past her guard, her expectations slowly rising. Those punches were heavy.

The next few minutes consisted of quick, precise punches. Not once did Garnet swing as widely as Jasper had seen her do to the coach. Every time Garnet moved, it was compact, as if each blow was meant to be the killing strike. It sure as hell felt like it.

Jasper felt a numbness growing in her arms that she had only felt once before, when she had fought another woman of her own weight class. Called herself Barb. Even so, the numbness didn't start until well into the fifth round. This woman, Garnet, was tiring Jasper out after just a minute and a half of sparring. Jasper tried to fight back, but each of her punches were dodged by a hair, only to be countered.

This infuriated Jasper. She was practically getting her ass handed to her by some mystery woman. Why did she swing so widely against Smiley? Was it to drop the gym's guard? Is Garnet a scout for a contending gym? No, no, none of those reasons made any sense! Jasper was the local star, the big kahuna of this smaller than average town. Even being popular, she was practically off the radar, so no one could know about where she was and come for a challenge. How did Garnet even find this gym?

The worst part about all of this wasn't that Jasper was being played like a violin. It wasn't that Garnet had seemingly found this gym just to toy with it. No, the worst part was the look in Garnet's eyes. Reddish brown and sparkling blue, they looked at Jasper with something that just pissed her off: pride.

Was Garnet proud of herself for being able to fight on par with Jasper? Proud to be overpowering her? Proud to know that her fists were able to wound someone two weight classes higher? Jasper didn't care. All she knew was that this bitch was stepping in the wrong ring.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This is the first chapter to my new Jaspnet story, Soft Knuckles. I hope you guys enjoy it. The next chapter to come out will be from my story Dirty Ambitions.**

 **If you guys have any questions or just wanna message me, feel free to do so.**

 **As always, so long for now.**


	2. Things Settle Down

Jasper was pissed.

Being pushed against the ropes like this, her arms taking a beating from a woman who Jasper was positive shouldn't even have half of her strength, was so infuriating.

Amethyst and Smiley watched from the sidelines, utterly awestruck. In their eyes, what they were witnessing could have been known before as impossible. Garnet was not a small woman by any means. Even so, being smaller than Jasper by at least a full weight class, she was giving out the beating of a life time. Smiley considered trying to end the spar early and telling Jasper the time must have felt like it went fast because of the fight, but he knew better. If he did anything to cut the spar short, Jasper would turn her fury to him. Smiley didn't think he'd ever survive something like that.

Lapis and Peridot didn't know a lot about boxing, if at all. They really only visited the gym so that they could talk to Amethyst. But they knew that Jasper being against the ropes by anyone, let alone someone smaller than her, was a taboo. Lapis sat up straight, gripping at the bench she sat on. Peridot pulled her legs up to her chest, biting her nails in anticipation. All they could do was watch as Garnet threw punch after punch against Jasper's arm.

Jasper herself could hardly believe it. She just stood there, taking Garnet's punches. She couldn't do anything else aside from that. Jasper wanted to break free, to escape Garnet's barrage and utterly pummel her. Jasper wanted to see Garnet fall with a swollen face and blackened eyes, she wanted to see Garnet in the hospital with a wire strapped to her jaw. Despite all of these thing, though she wanted so badly to break Garnet's stride and put her to the ground, Jasper did something else entirely. She took a breath, closed her eyes, and listened.

Jasper listened to Garnet's rhythm, the thick gloves colliding against her arms, and even her abdomen as Garnet switched to attacking Jasper's exposed body. That was just fine. Jasper trained her body to an extreme, and her abs must have felt like a brick wall against Garnet's fists. Jasper waited and listened for any break in Garnet's rhythm, for any chance to make a move. How long has it been since the start of the spar? One minute? Two minutes? It felt like an eternity. But Jasper was okay with that. She needed to focus.

Soon enough, Jasper noticed a slight gap in Garnet's punches. Almost half a second between her one-two's. A lot can be done in half a second. Jasper counted down in her head, waiting, then she opened her eyes. As soon as Garnet's right fist collided with her again, Jasper side stepped to Garnet's left. Garnet's left fist passed by Jasper's head, just catching the strands of her hair. Garnet barely had enough time to pull her fist back and face Jasper before she was punched in the face. Garnet saw red for a split second when Jasper punched her, but despite having just been hit, Garnet thought what she saw was rather beautiful.

Jasper was no longer the cocky woman Garnet agreed to a spar with. The look in her eyes was much different: sharp, calculating, expecting. Jasper was no longer holding back. Garnet smiled just as Jasper's right cross connected with her face, sending her to the mat.

Jasper looked as Garnet fell to her knees, knowing that she had lost consciousness, even for just a second. Suddenly, the gym fell on a deafening silence. For just a couple minutes, the gym was filled with nothing but the sound of gloves on skin. But now, you could hear a pin drop. Jasper sighed and made her way from the ring, climbing over the ropes. She used her teeth to undo the straps on her gloves, removing them and stretching out her fingers. No one in the room could think of anything to say, not even the usually witty Amethyst. Jasper hated the silence.

"She's a fuckin' glass cannon." Jasper commented, speaking to anyone that was within ear shot. "My arms are gonna be sore for a few days. Gonna have some bruises on them. Body too. Gonna need you to try to not get me a fight until I'm in top condition, Smiley."

Smiley was taken aback, obviously not expecting to be addressed directly. "O-oh, of course!" Smiley responded, his smile wide. His voice was shaky enough as it was, but anyone that looked at him would see how nervous he was. He was sweating like a pig.

"Dayum, sis." Amethyst breathed out. She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling her hair stand on end. "I've never seen you take a beating like that before."

"I got cocky." Jasper admitted. Shrugging, she grabbed a towel off of a rack beside the boxing gloves, where she placed hers. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Oh, okay. You do that." Amethyst watched her sister disappear through the door in the back. She shot a glance at Smiley, who shrugged. Then she looked over at Lapis and Peridot, both of whom were leaning against the other, relaxing after that stressful situation. Then she finally looked toward the center of the gym, where Garnet now stood.

Smiley climbed into the ring, a bottle of water in one hand, and a towel in the other. "Hey, you alright?" He asked Garnet, holding out the water bottle for her to take. She nodded, accepting the water without question.

"I'm fine." Garnet said after taking a sip of water. "She's strong."

"You're not so bad yourself." Amethyst commented, stepping into the ring. "I've never seen Jasper pushed like that. You had her against the ropes for a good bit of the spar. If that was an actual match, I don't think it would have lasted two rounds."

"I was going all out." Garnet admitted. "I surprised her, is all."

"Hey, you surprised me!" Smiley exclaimed, tossing a towel over Garnet's head. "Hitting the mitts with me was a lot more different than your spar. What was that?"

"I _wanted_ to surprise her." Garnet admitted. "Tried making her think I was clumsy, with wide swings. Worked for a minute, then she started seeing me as a real threat and took me down. Simple as that."

"Still.." Amethyst started, looking back at the door to where the showers would be. "I've never seen Jasper like that. So quiet after scoring a down on someone."

* * *

Jasper stood under a shower head, staring at her arms as hot water pelted her bare skin. Her arms were still numb, and turning them around, she saw that one side of her arms were covered almost entirely in bruises. She felt… she knew, that if she had allowed Garnet to keep pummeling away at her like that, Jasper would have ended up with more than a few hairline fractures in her arms. She wondered if Garnet's fists were the same way.

"Damn her." Jasper whispered under her breath. Even after the spar, even in the shower, Jasper still remembered how she nearly got her ass handed to her by a complete stranger. It was just so… _infuriating!_ For one, Jasper had gotten exactly what she asked for. She wanted a challenge, someone that could give her a thrill. She got cocky, thought that the new meat wasn't anything. Jasper expected to be hit by a few lucky shots, maybe, but not the bullshit that was pulled just a few minutes ago.

Jasper sighed, pushing the thought from her head. She decided that it was no use to boil over something that would most likely never happen again. She began to wash her body, admiring it. Jasper didn't want to sound like a narcissist, but she really couldn't help it. She was hot. Even though she exercised almost every single day, her breasts were big and plump, and she was positive that some girls would kill to have a body like hers. Her butt was well toned from squats, her legs and her arms had the right amount of muscle to them with plenty of feminine traits as well. Her skin was smooth, easy to the touch, but as soon as she would flex, she would probably rip through any long sleeved shirt. Jasper knew that wasn't exaggeration or hyperbole either.

Jasper, being like any other human being on the planet, has definitely thought about romance once or twice. She doubted anything would come from these thoughts, however. Being a boxer, she had a very short career.

Brain damage, carpal tunnel, among other things. The boxer's worst nightmare though, a form of brain damage and dementia, a an affliction known as punch drunkenness. The boxer loses almost all sense of balance, develops the Parkinson syndrome, paranoia, among several other disabilities. Of course, Jasper tried her best not to get hit, but it was certainly inevitable. She expected to retire before she turned thirty.

But that didn't matter now. Jasper locked her fingers and stretched her arms above her head, leaning backwards to let the hot water fall on her breasts and torso. It always felt good to shower after a particularly trying activity.

* * *

"Garnet, the showers are for everyone." Amethyst said, her arms crossed. She stood in front of Garnet, who had taken a seat on the bench beside Peridot and Lapis. She had a towel around her neck and had her hands clasped together, elbows resting on her knees. "Jasper won't give two shits if you wanna clean up."

"I'd rather wait." Garnet said. "I prefer to shower alone."

"Well so does everyone, when they're in their own home." Peridot commented.

"Unless you happen to _want_ company." Amethyst joked, sticking out her tongue.

Peridot didn't say anything else, but practically buried her face in her book. Lapis laughed, wrapping an arm around Peridot's shoulder while giving Amethyst a finger gun. "Hey, that an offer?"

"Hey, just might be." Amethyst answered, winking and using finger guns of her own. Garnet couldn't help but smirk behind her hands. Smiley walked up to the group, wiping the his head with the back of his hand. He had just finished putting away all of the equipment. Though it was still early in the morning, he felt that all of the stuff that happened today would be enough. If Jasper wanted to keep training, she could get the equipment herself.

"I know I ask you guys this every time." Smiley started, addressing Peridot and Lapis. "But why don't you join the gym? You're here all day anyway to hang out with Amethyst."

"Too lazy." Peridot and Lapis said in unison. They looked at each other, smiling widely. "Jinx!" They both said, then pointed at each other excitedly. "Double Jinx!"

"Alright, I get it." Smiley said, rubbing the back of his head. "But if you guys ever wanna join up, just let me know. It's only thirty a month for all the benefits, and the locker are free to use as long as your bring your own lock."

"We'll think about it." Lapis said, arm around Peridot, trying to stifle more laughter.

"Which also means probably not ever." Peridot added, leaning her body into Lapis. "I'm way too scrawny. I'd probably be knocked out cold in one punch." Peridot paused, looking in the distance as if she had an epiphany. Lapis and Amethyst smirked. Peridot and Lapis stood from the bench, locking their arms together, the trio practically screaming in unison.

" _One Puuuuuuuuuuuuuunch!_ "

Peridot started singing the theme song to the hit anime series in almost fluent Japanese, dancing with her eyes closed while Lapis and Amethyst cheered her on. Garnet couldn't help it. She chuckled. She leaned back in her seat on the bench, crossing her legs as she watched these three goofballs have their fun. She turned to Coach Smiley.

"Is it always like this with them?" She asked. Smiley nodded.

"Pretty much. These guys are the fun in the sun while Jasper's the one that trains and tries to be responsible. They complement each other, really. I think Jasper enjoys it more than they do."

Garnet nodded and looked past Coach Smiley, Jasper having just come out of the showers. Their eyes met, and Garnet was relieved to see Jasper smile. "Speaking of Jasper…"

Smiley turned around and, well, smiled as he saw Jasper walking toward the group. "Hey Jasper! Good shower?"

Jasper nodded. She gripped the towel that hung around her neck and tossed it at him. "Yeah. It's even better after getting the shit kicked out of me."

Jasper wore a white tank top with a black and red checkered flannel shirt, unbuttoned. Instead of her gym shorts, she had on jeans, and wore flip flops instead of her boxing shoes. She sat on the bench beside Garnet, leaning back and cracking her neck.

"You're not mad?" Garnet asked. Jasper shook her head.

"Nah. I had some time to think and figured I'd do the same. You came in, pretended to be sloppy with the coach, barely say a word, then show what you're really made of in the actual ring. Hell, I should praise you."

"I don't deserve your praise." Garnet said, but she smiled nonetheless. She was proud. "I wanted to surprise you, and at least get one clean hit on you. But when I had you against the ropes, I got cocky and forgot what I wanted. All I could think about was how I was actually pushing you. I surprised myself."

"You surprised all of us." Amethyst admitted. "I honestly thought you were gonna get a down on my big sis."

"Pfft, as if." Jasper chuckled. "The weight classes are way too different. What are you, anyway? Middle weight? Super middle?"

"Oh, I'm actually a natural heavy weight." Garnet admitted. "I have to work really hard to keep myself under my natural body weight. I honestly don't think I could stand up now, even if I wanted to."

"You're shitting me." Jasper pushed Garnet's shoulder, laughing. But she didn't expect Garnet to fall off the bench. Nor did she expect Garnet to stay on the floor, seemingly out cold. And she certainly didn't expect to feel as terrified for this woman as she did.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Good news! I figured out that I can use Microsoft Word on my phone, so the chapters are definitely gonna come out. Not as often as when I first started, but definitely at least once or twice a week. Now I can't post them on my phone, but that means if I finish a chapter and can't post it, I can immediately start working on the next one. Yay!**


	3. Mistakes

"Oh fuck." Jasper stood from the bench, looking down at Garnet in fear as she lay motionless on the floor. "Oh, shit oh fuck oh shit! Smiley!" She gestured frantically to her coach without looking, terrified to take her eyes off of Garnet. "Do something!"

Smiley was just as frozen in place as Jasper. He just stared in disbelief, thinking there was no possible way that someone who was able to give his best boxer a run for her money could have been as malnourished as she claimed. Amethyst and Peridot were both dumbfounded, whereas Lapis seemed nonchalant about the whole situation.

"I'm kinda sad you're all falling for this." Lapis said. Everyone looked at Lapis with looks similar to "you're fucking crazy", but they were distracted when they heard a chuckled coming from the floor.

Garnet slowly sat up. "Sorry." She rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "That was just a bad joke."

The silence in the gym was deafening. Jasper stared down at this woman who, in the short time they interacted, she had come to respect. This little joke, however, had Jasper turn a complete one-eighty in her opinion. She wanted so badly to kick Garnet, to just go wild and beat the absolute shit on this woman who had no respect for the dangers of the sport. But Jasper knew that she would most likely lose her boxing career. So instead, she calmly walked over to the punching bag, and without a glove, threw a right cross.

Jasper started pummeling the bag, the skin of her knuckles immediately tearing against the leather. Amethyst and Smiley ran to Jasper's side to pull her away and keep her from hurting herself.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Amethyst asked after she and Smiley finally wrestled Jasper from the bag.

"Get that _bitch_ out of this gym!" Jasper yelled, pointing at Garnet, bloody specks of skin flinging from her hand. Garnet was afraid to move from the floor, staring wide eyed at Jasper's outburst.

"I... I'm sorr-" Garnet tried to apologize, but was cut off.

"You _don't_ joke about that shit." Jasper said, her words with clear venomous intent. "Boxers have died for their career. People have gone brain dead for their pride, and you have the fucking balls to make a joke out of it? Get out."

"I didn't mean to…" Garnet was speechless. When she was sparring Jasper, she saw a wild beast in her eyes. A proud lion, enjoying its hunt. But now Garnet saw nothing but contempt and hatred. The lion had transformed into something far more terrifying than a hungry beast. What Garnet saw was a being that felt pure and utter disgust, as if she was just a roach that had crawled onto Jasper's food. The hunt was over. Garnet felt that if she said another word, this would turn into a pest extermination. All she could do was stand and run from the building.

Jasper sighed. The rest of people in the gym, including the anonymous people that would show up to let off some steam, held their breath. No one had ever seen Jasper so angry before. Not even Amethyst, who got her kicks by frustrating the shit out of her older sister when they were children. Of course, she was the first to try and speak.

"…hey sis?" Amethyst asked tentatively, slowly putting her hand on Jasper's back. "You good?"

Jasper looked down at her sister and sighed. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"You sure?" Lapis asked. "That was a hell of an outburst.

"I'm fine." Jasper repeated, more sternly. She crossed her arms. "She's just a cunt."

"I hear ya." Amethyst nodded. She leaned herself on Jasper's legs, the tension in the room having been released. The few people that paused to see what the commotion was went back to their work outs, whereas Lapis, Peridot, Amethyst, and Jasper stood and talked. Smiley excused himself to try to recruit the other people to become members of the gym, but in actuality, he was just afraid to be in Jasper's particular line of sight after what happened.

"That did kinda suck." Peridot added. "Why would she do that if she's a boxer too?"

Jasper could not answer that question, nor did she want to. At the moment, as she glanced at the broken skin on her knuckles, all she wanted to do was get bandaged up and go home. It wasn't even noon yet.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Garnet scolded herself as she walked to her apartment at the edge of town. She could not believe that she had done something so stupid, let alone to someone she respected from the core of her being. Maybe it was just a fit of nervousness. In the ring, Garnet was confident, but in a conversation… She really thought she was worthless.

As she walked, Garnet pondered on how she would be able to make it up to Jasper. The next day was out of the question. There was no way that a good night's sleep would let Jasper metabolize the atrocious stunt Garnet pulled. Maybe she would wait a week before apologizing. That seemed like a good idea.

Before she knew it, Garnet was at her doorstep. Only then did she realize that she had left her bag, which consisted of her wallet and keys, at the gym in her hurry to escape Jasper's wrath. Garnet looked to the sky as she let out a groan, turning her back to the door and sinking to the bottom to sit on the ground. Of all the luck in the world, hers had to be the shittiest. She pulled her knees up to her chest, sighing. She thought about the first time she had even come to admire Jasper.

It was when Garnet was dragged to a boxing match by her parents. Well, really she and her mother Sapphire were dragged by Ruby. "It'll be fun!" Ruby said, incredibly persistent. Ultimately, Garnet and Sapphire relented, albeit reluctantly. The drive out of town to the ring was, as Garnet expected it to be, rather boring. All her mother talked about were hooks and jabs and straights and whatever the Hell else. It just was not interesting. The building they arrived at was rather large, and Garnet groaned at the sight. Being around several people was not her thing. Her fears were only solidified when they entered the building, and had to fight through a crowd to their seats. Ruby was excited, and Sapphire followed quickly behind with a smile, but Garnet knew that smile. Sapphire would rather be anywhere else but there. It was only when they got to their seats, and the fighters made their entrances, where Garnet began to change her mind.

Garnet watched, almost mesmerized, as Jasper walked her way confidently to the ring. Her gaze then was what made Garnet interested in the first place: sharp, calculating, and most of all, destructive. Just by looking her amber colored eyes, Garnet could tell that there was something special about this woman. Jasper's opponent, who's name Garnet later found out was Barb, was not even noticed by Garnet's psyche. All she could see in that ring was Jasper.

The fight was over before it began, as far as Garnet was concerned. At the sound of the bell, Jasper went on the attack. Barb didn't have a chance to react. In one combination, a left to the eye, a right to just the underside of the chin, and it was over. Barb had fallen to her knees, and no matter how much she tried, she could not stand. Garnet later figured out that Jasper had rattled Barb's brain with the hit to the chin. There was nothing she could do.

Ruby and Sapphire had differing emotions about how quickly the fight ended. Ruby was angry. Sapphire was relieved. Garnet… well, she had found herself a hobby as well as a goal.

A couple of years later, and Garnet was beating herself up for disrespecting the sport that her hero loved so much. She didn't even want to think about going back to the gym to collect her things. Perhaps she could ask one of her mothers to pick her things up for her.

As soon as the thought had crossed her mind, the door Garnet was sitting against opened. She caught herself before she fell backwards and turned to see which of her mothers was at the door. Garnet would say she was surprised to see that it was Sapphire, but that would have been a big fat lie. The one eyed woman always had a sort of intuition about when Garnet was feeling troubled.

Sapphire, in Garnet's opinion, was an attractive woman for her age. Of course, there is a possibility that Garnet may be biased in her opinions of her mother, but the facts would speak for themselves. Sapphire was still in her night gown, which was a beautiful icy blue with white near the wrists, collar, and opening at the bottom. Her straight, black hair contrasted well with the light clothing, as well as her light caramel colored skin. Garnet still refused to believe that Sapphire does not do anything to her body for beauty other than bathe and wash her hair.

"You're home early." Sapphire said, her one open brown eye slightly narrowed with worry. "You told us not to expect you back for a few more hours. What happened?"

"Nothing I'd like to talk about at the moment." Garnet replied. Sapphire smiled and nodded.

"Alright. You know we're here for you."

"I know."

Garnet loved the relationship she had with her parents. Entirely based on trust, the three had nothing to hide from each other. If there were problems in certain aspects of their lives, eventually, they would tell the other member of their family and seek assistance. Even in the incident that made Sapphire lose her right eye, Ruby was understanding in the fact that her other half did not want to speak of it. When Sapphire finally came clean about being mugged, however, Ruby went on a man hunt, found the asshole that hurt her wife, and beat the shit out of him, spending a little over a month in jail afterwards. Ruby still thought it was worth it.

"Would you like to come inside?" Sapphire asked her daughter.

"Sure." Garnet said, and stood to her feet. She followed her mother inside, and the door closed behind them.

* * *

"Today's been a shitty day." Jasper commented as she unlocked the door to her and Amethyst's apartment. It was a rather small place. As soon as they would enter, there would be a couch immediately on their right, facing a television with a video game system connected to it. From the front door, they could look down the hallway and see three doors. One on the left lead to the bathroom, whereas the two on the right lead to Jasper and Amethyst's respective bed rooms. Amethyst took the room furthest back, as it was connected to her own bathroom. A small dining table stood to the left from the front door entrance, and passed that was something that just barely qualified as a kitchen. It wasn't the best place to live, but to the sisters, it was home.

"I hear ya." Amethyst agreed, stretching her arms above her head as she followed Jasper. "I'm gonna take a hit and call it a day for me."

"Pack a bowl for me, too." Lapis said, following Amethyst and Jasper into the house.

"Definitely." Amethyst turned her head to the side to address Peridot, who was bringing up the rear. "Peri, you wanna joint?"

Peridot shook her head. "No thanks, I don't feel like getting high so early in the day. Maybe later."

Lapis shrugged. "More for us."

"Just keep that damn door shut thus time." Jasper said, stepping in the kitchen to raid her fridge, having set her gym bag on the couch. "I hate the smell of that shit. And if you order any food, you better believe I'm not paying for it."

"Relax, sis." Amethyst said, avoiding Jasper's comment with a wave as she made her way to her room. "Peri's good for it."

"You bitches had better pay me back, too." Peridot said, and Amethyst laughed. Lapis gave Peridot the bird, and that was the last of the conversation that Jasper could catch before Amethyst's door shut behind them. Jasper collected leftover salmon she had made the previous night and decided to heat it in the over, with brown sugar and honey mustard as a sauce. She turned and leaned against her counter, unscrewing a bottle of water just as the phone on her wall started to ring. She contemplated ignoring it, but only two people had her number: her land lord, and her coach.

Jasper set her water down and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

" _Hey Jasper."_ It was Jasper's coach, Harold. _"Sorry to call you after you already left the gym."_

"No worries." Jasper said, grabbing her bottle again to sip on during the conversation. "Did you schedule a fight for me or what?"

" _Sorry, girl. I'm actually calling to tell you that the woman you had a spar with left her bag here_. _"_

"Why would you think I care?" Jasper asked. She was passed being angry and was more indifferent than anything to the woman known as Garnet. "She forgot her shit, she can pick it up."

" _I just thought I'd let you know. I'm throwing her stuff in the safe in my office. If she happens to come by tomorrow, you can give it to her."_

"Why can't you?" Jasper asked, feeling annoyed.

" _I'm catching my flight to Japan tonight, remember?"_

"Oh shit, yeah." Jasper sighed, setting her water down to rub her eyes. She had forgotten that the coach was studying abroad. He would learn from foreign coaches, and vice versa. He planned this so that he may help further Jasper's career, considering he has already taught her almost all she knows.

" _So you've got my back?"_

Jasper sighed again. "Yeah, I've got you. If she shows up, I'll give her shit to her.

" _Thanks, Jasper. I'll owe you one."_

"You're flying to a different country so you can teach me new things. You've paid me back plenty."

The rest of the conversation was not nearly as interesting. Jasper and Smiley talked about Japan and the possible stereotypes they had heard, Japanese culture, and other things. Smiley was worried that he would somehow offend someone, but Jasper told him that he would be fine, as long as he apologized and asked for help in how he could do things the right way. The coach and boxer finally said their goodbyes and Jasper hung up the phone, letting out a third sigh.

"This day keeps getting shittier." She muttered to herself. Jasper was pulled from her loathing of the world when her oven started beeping. She smiled, glad that the conversation had at least killed time for her salmon to finish heating. She put on some oven mitts, grabbed her food from the oven, and made herself a plate with a side of raw cauliflower and white wine. It felt good to treat herself after the day she had.

Jasper started walking to her room when she met Lapis in the hallway. From one glance at her eyes, Jasper could tell that this girl was as high as a kite. That, and the strong smell of marijuana coming from her clothes.

"Heeeyy, Jasper." Lapis said, not quite in a slurred voice, but definitely with a tone indicating that all of the lights in her head weren't on. "Do you have any extra dice? I didn't bring mine, and Peri won't share cuz she says I'm too fucking funny when I'm high."

Jasper couldn't help but smile. Lapis _was_ funny when she was high. "Uh, yeah, just lemme-"

"That smells so good, by the way." Lapis interrupted. It took her a whole five seconds of silence to realize she had cut Jasper off, and she clasped her hands together. "Sorry, continue."

"I'm gonna put my food down." Jasper continued. Lapis stepped back and waved with both arms towards Jasper's room, as if introducing royalty. Jasper stepped inside and set her plate beside her night stand, next to her bed. Her room was fairly frugal, as she didn't really worry about decoration. Her bed was a queen size, of course. Her comforter was a dark orange, which Amethyst to this day still calls the ugliest thong she had ever seen. Jasper didn't care. She liked orange. Her dresser was a dark brown color, and two drawers wide. A flat screen television sat on her dresser, even though she and Amethyst had one in the living room. Jasper liked her privacy.

Jasper searched her dresser for a small set of dice, and when she found the plastic box they were in, she turned and handed them to Lapis. The dice, also, were a dark orange with streaks of a lighter shade.

"Thank you, your majesty." Lapis said with a curtsy, continuing to play the royalty game she began. "I'll be sure to not lose this graceful offering."

"Just leave them in Amethyst's room when you go home." Jasper suggested. "I never play with you guys anyway. Dunno why I even bought them."

"Well thanks." Lapis said, returning to her normal space pattern. Well, as normal as she can get it. "I'm sure we can help you make a character sheet if you ever wanna join."

"We'll see. Have fun." Jasper sat on her bed, preparing to dig into her meal. Lapis idled in the doorway for a few seconds before speaking again.

"You know, you're really hot." Lapis stated, and Jasper raised an eyebrow as she stabbed a fork into her fish. "I'd totally fuck you if you asked me to. No strings attached."

"You've told me." Jasper responded, smirking. "And again, I'd take you up on that if you weren't dating one of those other nerds in the other room."

Lapis looked like she wanted to say something else, but she decided to hold her tongue. "Yeah, well… thanks again for the dice." Lapis went back to being a barbarian in the land of Ooo. Why Amethyst thought it was a good idea to be the Dungeon Master in an Adventure Time landscape, Jasper would never know. She turned back to her salmon, finally alone, and dug in to her dinner.

* * *

 **Author's Note: STILL NOT DEAD! Anyway, I wanted to let you guys, my loyal readers who have waited for my updates for so many decades, that this story is going to have a MUCH slower burn to it than the others. In my Dirty Ambitions story, Amethyst and Peridot got their relationship going in just a little over a week. In this story, I'm going to try and make the relationship build a bit more realistically.**

 **Now, I'm not gonna say anything that I have planned aside from that this IS a Jaspnet story. Garnet x Jasper IS the main goal here. But their actual relationship isn't going to fully flourish until the END of the story. At least, that's my plan.**

 **Anyway, I hope you like what I've written so far. As always, PLEASE leave reviews and feel free to message me privately. They mean a lot. And thanks again.**


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